downes



No Model.)

J. F. DOWNES.

FIRE ESCAPE.

WITNESSES.

Patented 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Nov. 8, 1892.

ma NORRIS PEYERS co, PHOTO-HTML?" wnsnmsm, n, c.

INVENTOH ,Arg/Z-W 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

1 J. F. DOWNES.

FIRE ESCAPE. No 485,914 I Patented Nov. 8, 1892.

iii

INVENTOH ATTORNEYS,

f will move the slide e outward to open the .Improved Fire-Escape, ofwhich the followout of use and can be swung out to stand oif at adistance from the house in case of fire.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES F. DOWN ES, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 485,914, dated November8, 1892. Application filed July 1 8 1892. Serial No. 440,297- (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES F. DoWNEs, of New York city, New York, haveinvented an ing is a specification.

Thisinvention relates to a fire-escape which can be folded up closeagainst the house when The invention consists in the various features ofimprovement more fully pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly insection, of the fireescape, showing it open; Fig. 2, a similar viewshowing it closed; Fig. 3, a front view of the fire-escape, showing itclosed; Fig. 4:, a rear view thereof showing it open; Fig. 5, a top viewof the arm a; and Fig. 6, a cross section on line a: 00, Fig. 5.

The letters a on represent the two side bars of a folding ladderprovidedwith the pivoted rungs a 1) 1) area pair of brackets secured to thehouse-front A above and below the ladder. To each bracket there ispivoted by pin a an arm 0, consisting of two parallel bars that areconnected at their forward end by a pin 0 Fig. 5. The inner side bar aof the ladder is pivoted to arm 0 by a laterally -extending pivot 01,secured to the arm a at such a distance in front of the pivot c as theladder is to stand off from the house when open. The end of this pivotmay be made to engage a folding platform d, which is thus swung downwhen the ladder is opened to permit access to the same. The outer sidebar a. of the ladder is pivoted by laterally-projecting pivot e to across-head or flanged slide 6, engaging and free to reciprocate upon thearms 0, Fig. 6. The cross-head e is pivotally connected by pin 6 to oneend of an eccentricrod f, the other end of which is pivoted to thebracket 1) below arm 0 by a pin f.

The operation of the device as thus far described is as follows: Whenthe ladder is to be lowered, the arms care swung outward on pivots c tostand at right angles to the housefront. During this motion theeccentric-rod ladder, Fig. 1. When the ladder is closed, the slide awillbe moved inward, so that the arms 0 and the side bars a a will foldflush against the wall, Fig. 2. To raise and lower theladder, I employthe following mechanism: To a bracket g, projecting rearwardly from theinner face of wallA, there is pivoted a handlever g. To the free end ofthis lever is pivoted a push-rod 9 passing through a perforation of wallA and bearing against the side bar a on the depression of the lever tomechanically throw the ladder outward and assist in the opening of thesame. The lever q is provided with an arm 9 to which there is pivoted anupwardly-projecting bar h,having a crank-handle h, and adownwardly-projecting bar 712, terminating in a pawl lb The bar h isprovided, moreover, with a pin it, engaging a lever 71 adapted to berevolved from the outside of the building by handle it. If this handleis locked to a stationary lug 71, 011 bracket 1), Fig. 3, by a padlock,the ladder is locked in its closed position and cannot be tampered with.The pawl it engages a ratchetwheel 11, fast on an arbor t", carrying adrum To this drum is secured one end ofarope or chainj, the other end ofwhich is attached toja slide j, moving on guide-rodsj that carry thebuffer-springs j The slide j is also connected to a vertically-movablerod is, guided in fixed bearing it. To this rod is connected the innerend of a cord or chain Z, passing over pulley Z and connected at itsouter end to the upper arm a. To an arm of rod k is also connected theinner end of a cord or chain m, passing over pulley m and connected atits outer end to the lower arm 0. In use the drum t is revolved by a keyengaging the arbor 'i, so that the rope j is wound up and the ladder israised or closed. In this position the ladder will be locked by theengagement of the pawl 7L3 with the ratchetwheel t, held thereto by aspring n. When it is desired to lower or open the ladder, apressure uponhand-lever Q will Withdraw the pawl 71. from the teeth of wheel '11against the action of spring '21,. At the same time pressure will beapplied to the side bar a by the pushbar 9 so that the ladder will bestarted and will fully open by its own gravity. During this motion theslide j and rod 70 will be drawn upward by the chains Z m, that arepulled out by the ladder. After the fire the arbor i is again revolvedto wind up rope basement or street, this can be done by revolving thehandle h, whichby lever h and pin M will draw the rod 712 up to withdrawthe pawl h from the ratchet-wheel Alike result may be attained from theupper stories by revolving the handle h, that willdrawthe rod it up bymeans of the rod h. 'Thus the' ladder may be readily operated from allelevations.

What I claim is oted to the house front, with a slide engaging the sameand with a folding ladder pivoted to "the slide, substantially asspecified.

2. The combination of a pair of arms pivoted to the house frontwitha-sl-ide engaging the same, an ecce-i-i'tric-arin f, connected tothe slide, and a folding ladder having one side 7 bar pivoted to theslide and the ether-side bar pivoted to the arm,s'n'bstan'tialiyasspecifi-ed.

3. The combination of a pair of pivoted arms composedof a pair-ofparallel *bars with a slide engaging said bars; *ecc'entric rod foroperating the slide, a lateral lysproj'ecti n g pivot d, secured to thearms, a latreral lgwprojecti'n-g pivot e' secu-red to :thesiide, andwith cal-ly opening the ladder, specified. 1. The combination of apairof arms a, p'iva folding ladder connected to the pivots d e,substantially as speci fi'e'd.

4. The combination of a pair of swinging arms with a folding ladderpivoted thereto and with a lever g and a push-rod g passing through thewall and adapted to bear against the folding ladder, substantially asspecified.

5. The combination of a pair of swinging arms with a slide, aneccentric-rod, and a folding ladder pivoted tothe slide and with apush-rod g and operating-lever g for mechanisubstantially as The combinat ion of a pair of swinging arms with a ladder pivoted thereto and withl a drum 1?, ratchet=wheel '4), pawl 11, engaging the ratchet-wk: eei, aco rd j, engaging the-dru m, and with "a sli'd'ej, rod handoperating-chains 'Z mgsecured thereto, substantia 'llyas specified.

7. The combination of a pairo'f swinging ar'ms'with a ladder pivot-edthereto and with drums i ratchet-wheel 2', lever g, rod g rod a having fpawl k and with cord 3', slide 3'', rod k, and operatingchainsl m,substantially as specific 1.

JAMES F. DOWNES.

Witnesses: I

"Enos. F. DoWNEs, F. v. BRIESEN.

